A sentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), a question mark (?), or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicate (tells us about the subject) and a subject.
Sentences contain clauses. Simple sentences have one clause. Compound sentences and complex sentences have two or more clauses. Sentences can contain subjects and objects. The subject in a sentence is generally the person or thing carrying out an action. The object in a sentence is involved in an action but does not carry it out, the object comes after the verb. For example: The boy climbed a tree.
To say more about the subject (the boy) or the object (the tree), add an adjective. For example: The young boy climbed a tall tree.
To say more about how he climbed the tree, use an adverb. For example: The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree.
The sentences becomes more interesting as it gives the reader or listener more information. There are more things to add to enrich a sentence.
Parts of a sentence
Description
Adjective
Describes things or people.
Adverb
Alters the meaning of the verb slightly
Article
a, an - indefinite articlesthe - definite articles
Conjunction
Joins words or sentences together
Interjection
A short word showing emotion or feeling
Noun
Names things
Preposition
Relates one thing to another
Pronoun
used instead of a noun to avoid repetition
Proper noun (subject)
The actual names of people or places etc.
Verb
Action or doing word
What makes a complete sentence?
Think about a sentence as if it were a skeleton, the skeleton contains various bones and these bones are put together to form different parts of the body. Sentences are formed by words, the words are the bones and they are put together in different ways to form sentences.
Simple Sentences
A simple sentence contains a single subject and predicate. It describes only one thing, idea or question, and has only one verb- it contains only an independent (main) clause [see clauses tab on navigation menu for resources]. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. For example: Jill reads.
Even the addition of adjetives, adverbs, and prespositional phrases to a simple sentence does not change it into a complex sentence. For example: The brown dog with the red collar always barks loudly.
Even by joining several nouns with a conjuction or several verbs with a conjunction, it still remains a simple sentence. For example: The dog barked and growled loudly.
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are made up of two or more simple sentences combined using a conjunction such as and, or, or but. They are made up of more than one independent clause joined together with a co-ordinating conjunction. For example: "The sun was setting in the west and the moon was just rising."
Each clause can stand alone as a sentence. For example: "The sun was setting in the west. The moon was just rising."
Every clause is like a sentence with a subject and a verb. A coordinating conjunction goes in the middle of the sentence, it is the word that joins the two clauses together, the most common are: and, or, but. For example:
- I walked to the shops, but my husband drove. - I might watch the film, or I might visit my friends. - My friend enjoyed the film, but she didn't like the actor.
Complex Sentences
Complex sentences describe more than one thing or idea and have more than one verb in them. They are made up of more than one clause, an independent clause (that can stand by itself) and a dependent (subordinate) clause (which cannot stand by itself). For example: "My mother likes dogs that don't bark."
Dependent clauses can be nominal, adverbial or adjectival [see clauses tab on navigation menu for resources].
BUILDING SENTENCES
A sentence is a group of words which starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop (.), a question mark (?), or exclamation mark (!). A sentence contains or implies a predicate (tells us about the subject) and a subject.
Sentences contain clauses. Simple sentences have one clause. Compound sentences and complex sentences have two or more clauses. Sentences can contain subjects and objects. The subject in a sentence is generally the person or thing carrying out an action. The object in a sentence is involved in an action but does not carry it out, the object comes after the verb.
For example:
The boy climbed a tree.
To say more about the subject (the boy) or the object (the tree), add an adjective.
For example:
The young boy climbed a tall tree.
To say more about how he climbed the tree, use an adverb.
For example:
The young boy quickly climbed a tall tree.
The sentences becomes more interesting as it gives the reader or listener more information. There are more things to add to enrich a sentence.
What makes a complete sentence?
Think about a sentence as if it were a skeleton, the skeleton contains various bones and these bones are put together to form different parts of the body. Sentences are formed by words, the words are the bones and they are put together in different ways to form sentences.Simple Sentences
A simple sentence contains a single subject and predicate. It describes only one thing, idea or question, and has only one verb- it contains only an independent (main) clause [see clauses tab on navigation menu for resources]. An independent clause can stand alone as a sentence. It has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.For example:
Jill reads.
Even the addition of adjetives, adverbs, and prespositional phrases to a simple sentence does not change it into a complex sentence.
For example:
The brown dog with the red collar always barks loudly.
Even by joining several nouns with a conjuction or several verbs with a conjunction, it still remains a simple sentence.
For example:
The dog barked and growled loudly.
Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are made up of two or more simple sentences combined using a conjunction such as and, or, or but. They are made up of more than one independent clause joined together with a co-ordinating conjunction.For example:
"The sun was setting in the west and the moon was just rising."
Each clause can stand alone as a sentence.
For example:
"The sun was setting in the west. The moon was just rising."
Every clause is like a sentence with a subject and a verb. A coordinating conjunction goes in the middle of the sentence, it is the word that joins the two clauses together, the most common are: and, or, but.
For example:
- I walked to the shops, but my husband drove.
- I might watch the film, or I might visit my friends.
- My friend enjoyed the film, but she didn't like the actor.
Complex Sentences
Complex sentences describe more than one thing or idea and have more than one verb in them. They are made up of more than one clause, an independent clause (that can stand by itself) and a dependent (subordinate) clause (which cannot stand by itself).For example:
"My mother likes dogs that don't bark."
Dependent clauses can be nominal, adverbial or adjectival [see clauses tab on navigation menu for resources].